The union was established and registered in 1934 - 90 years ago. At the time the Head Office was at; 51 Ashers Building,. Fox Street Johannesburg Tel 33-1598. The Founder and first General Secretary was Mr. Dick Knevitt. In 1946 the Motor Transport Workers Union and the Motor Owners Association formed the first industrial Council for the Motor Transport Undertaking (Goods), now known as the Bargaining Council for the Road Freight Industry.  

In 2004, we grew to 19,000 members, and at one point, some of our rival unions wanted one industry per union, so they raised the threshold from 2500 to 7000 and they said that any union that is currently participating in the bargaining council but does not reach the 7000 mark within two months would be kicked out.

At the time, MTWU had 2080 members, and we had grown to 7500 within that time frame. As a result haven seen our potential, in 2012 we have started to expand our scope in terms of worker representation. It was in our best interest to represent all the sectors of employees. We can now represent in any field, which has resulted in an increase in cleaning, gardening, and restaurant workers, some of whom are exploited. We needed to improve everything, and we have a track record in terms of employee representation. 

Our core issue is about the workers and making sure that they receive what is due to them hence our motto: Unless its achieved the struggle for better employment conditions will continue from one generation to another.